Nature's Call
by BookWorm5635
Summary: When a new threat rises against the guardians, and posseses Ashllyn's body, the guardians are intent on destroying it. But, the threat is also intent on one thing. Total and mass destruction. Can the guardians destroy it without destroying Ashllyn? (The pic is of the possesed Ashllyn) (Warning: THIS IS A SEQUEL. DO NOT read unless you have read the prequel, Nippin' at my Nose.)
1. Inside the Coffin

In that crystal and glass coffin lay a beautiful woman, with hair the color of wheat. Her dress was chlorophyl green, with little gold accents here and there. She had a pair of golden sandles on her feet, and a golden tiara shaped like leaves and flowers sat upon her head. She had a deep tan, and her lips were like pure rubies.

The only thing that ruined the picture was a silver dagger stuck in her chest.

"Ashllyn..." Jack asked, putting his arm around a terrified Jaime and Sophie. Ashllyn slowly turned, and when she did, her face had changed. It was no longer young and joyous, but twisted in a maniacal grin. Her usually purple, glittery eyes where now radiation green, glowing with power. She started to laugh, but it was a crazy, deranged laugh.

"_I have been awoken_..._ My power will reign supreme!_ " she rasped in between fits of laughter. Sophie started to back away, her blue eyes wide with fear. Jack stepped in front of the kids, brandishing his staff.

"_Ha! You think that stick is any match for the power of nature?_" Ashllyn said, raising her hand in battle position.

"Ashllyn, what are you doing? You're scaring the kids." Jack said, backing slowly towards the entrance.

"_I am no longer Ashllyn Grace. I am known to most as Mother Earth, but my true name is that will strike fear into the heart of all those who have polluted my world... Terralia!_" but no one was there to hear her, for Jack, Jaime and Sophie had already fled.

* * *

**_BACK ON THE SURFACE OF BURGESS..._**

Jack had scooped up the kids and zoomed up and out of the cave. Something was seriously wrong with Ashllyn, and they needed to get to the Pole. Fast. Jack flew with the kids still in his arms towards the Pole. Sophie apparently thought it was all a game, because she kept grabbing at the clouds and squealing with delight.

Jaime was another story. He knew something was wrong, and he wanted to know what.

They arrived at the pole in fifteen minutes time, touching down on the doorstep. Jack pushed open the doors, and Jaime and Sophie both gasped.

"Woah..." Jaime said.

"Toys! Toys, toys, toys!" Sophie screamed, chasing a remote control plane. But, Jack just walked through like the sight bored him.

"North! North!" Jack called. North appeared on on of the many balconies ringing the workshop. The kids caught up to Jack, their eyes full of wonder and joy.

"What?! Why are there children in my workshop? What is going on, Jack?" He said, taking one of the many elevators down to the main floor. He loomed over the trio, arms crossed, showing off his naughty/nice tattoos.

"North, we have to talk," Jack said "Look Sophie! an elf!" Sophie's eyes lit up.

"Elf! Elf, elf, elf!" she squealed, chasing a very surprised elf around the workshop. North started to protest, but then saw the look in both Jack and Jaime's eyes.

"Okay, you have five minutes." he said, leading them into his private office.


	2. A New Threat

**Let us all have a moment of silence for those 20 innocent first graders and 5 other adults in CN that lost their lives to a maniac the other day. Please hug your family a little tighter tonight and tell them that you love them, so as to always remember that they could be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. Say your prayers for their families, having to go to sleep without knowing their children are in the next room over.  
**

**~Thank you~  
**

* * *

"Well, we, Jaime, Sophie, Ashllyn and I, were sitting at a picnic table in Burgess, and this warm breeze blew through the park. And Ashllyn got up and ran through the woods to this clearing with a well, and she went down it." Jack started.

"And there was this glass and crystal coffin. And there was this lady with a knife in her chest..." Jaime continued.

"And Ashllyn's eyes, they were glowing green." Jack said. North held up his hands.

"A coffin? Glowing green eyes?" he walked over to a switch on the wall, an flipped it. little lights, like miniature aroura borealis, streamed from it. Less than half an hour later, the rest of the guardians, plus Jaime, were gathered around a table in the newly-made meeting room.

"What's going on?"

"Where's Ashllyn?"

"Why are we here?"

All these questions and more rang through the room, and North clapped his hands together and called, in his loudest voice, "QUIET! Now, there has been an unfourtunate... accident involving Ashllyn."

Jack stood and let out an outraged cry. "Accident? She was possesed!" Jaime nodded vigorusly, his mouth full of cookies. North gravely shook his head,

"Guardians, and Jaime, there are dark times ahead. A threat even greater than Pitch has arisen. We must be ready." North said.

Tooth gasped, "No!" Sandy's face turned as white as Jack's hair. Bunny almost fell out of his chair. But Jack and Jaime just exchanged confused glances.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jaime asked. The other three guardians looked at Jack and Jaime like they had sprouted an extra head.

"You really _don't_ know?" Bunny asked. Jack and Jaime shook their heads. Tooth looked over at them.

"Well, long ago, before the Dark Ages, the Earth was young and new. It was ruled by the kind and just queen, Terralia. She guided humanity and helped them survive. And, just before the Dark Ages began, she looked down at the humans and saw them chopping down her trees by the dozen. She frantically looked around to see if her animals were okay. She saw that the humans where killing them off for their meat and pelts. She went into a frenzy, killing all their plants, sending the animals on them, and possesing the villagers. And when Pitch rose, she took his side. She attacked after her commrade was defeated. We where weak and we only defeated her because a young mortal drove a dagger through her heart, driving her from the villager she had possesed." she finished.

Jack and Jaime just sat there, their mouths agape. They took a minute to absorb that story.

"So... who was Terralia?" Jack asked.

It was North who answered.

"Terralia is Mother Nature." he said, his eyes filled with dread.

* * *

**I need some suggestions, and also some people to put in there. Just post your person's name, her/his power, and what type of holiday/mythical figure they are.**

**Questions, comments, concerns, and suggestions go in the box below.**

**~Bookie~**


	3. Possesion

To this day, Ashllyn still didn't know what possesed her to move from that picnic table. She heard a whisper, something in the back of her mind, telling her to follow it. But when she saw the woman with the dagger in her chest in the coffin, something clicked in her mind. Like she was ment to find the woman. She suddenly knew the womans name.

Terralia.

Looking at her face, Ashllyn saw something float out of the woman's mouth, like a cloud of green mist. She watched as it floated towards her, into her mouth.

She felt something settle within her, fighting against her for control. Then, her mind went blank. She didn't know what she said, only that it made Sophie's eyes go wide with fear. After her friends had left, she felt the thing that possesed her relenquish control. Ashllyn sarted to breathe heavily.

"I've got to get out of here..." She said, climbing out of the well. She stood in the clearing in the woods. She raced to the park, and stood, watching Jack fly away with the kids in his arms.

Just then, her head exploded with unbearable pain. He fell to her knees, clutching her head. Claude and Caleb, the twins that helped fight Pitch, where walking by and spotted her. They ran over and helped her up.

"Ashllyn, are you okay?" Claude asked. Ashllyn's head was spinning, voices whispering evil things into her head. Things of revenge and bitter hate. The pain ebbed and she striaghtened up, her mind going blank again.

"_I am fine, children. There is nothing to worry about_." She answered. Claude backed away, pulling Caleb with him. They knew something was wrong, because Ashllyn never called them children. It was always kid, or sometimes kiddo. But never children. They didn't know what to do, so they did the logical thing.

They ran.

Terralia-Ashllyn watched them go. She turned her attention to the skyline of Burgess. She imagined it overgrown with plants, animals roaming freely instead of humans.

_This form is strong. And so is its soul. _Terralia thought. _I cannot dispose of it, for that woul destroy its physical form, too._

With the snap of her fingers, a throne of holly sprang up from the ground. She sat down, needing to rest. As she drifted off into a twisted dream scape, a plan formed in Terralia's evil, demented mind. She would not go after the guardians, but rather let them come to her.

She would wait. She had waited over three hundred years, she could wait a few more days.

* * *

When she woke up, she felt rested, and rejuvinated. She stretched and walked around the park, melting ice and snow and making the plants grow. Less than fifteen minutes later, the guardians arrived. They where in battle stance, but Terralia didn't care. She strolled casually up to them. She looked them each over in turn, but when her eyes met Jack Frost's her head exploded again.

She fell to her knees. She felt Ashllyn fighting her, wresting control from her. Jack stepped forwards, kneeling by Ashllyn's possesed body. Her eyes flickered momentarily from green to purple.

"Jack... she's taken over... I can't hold out much longer... she's two strong... go... run..." Ashllyn said, in between cries of pain. She began to writhe, the pain of two powerful forces fighting inside of her overwhelming her. Jack tried to help her up, but to no avail. Bunny had already made an escape tunnel.

"Ashllyn..." he said, trying to help her up.

"Go!" she said, her eyes already turning green again. All the other guardians had gone down it, save for Jack and Bunny. Jack looked mournfully over his shoulder, but Ashllyn was no longer there. She was there, but it wasn't _really_ Ashllyn. Jack made a silent vow right then and there: if he ever got his hands on Terralia, he would personally throttle her with his bare hands. With one last look, Jack and Bunny jumped down the tunnel.

* * *

**Mwahahahaha! Thank you guys for all your reviews, faves, and follows! Your the reason I do what I do! ****I also need some suggestions, and also some people to put in there. Just post your person's name, her/his power, and what type of holiday/mythical figure they are.**

**Questions, comments, concerns, and suggestions go in the box below.**

**~Bookie~**


	4. Manny Gives Some Advice

Jack wanted to stay. To help Ashllyn. His best friend. It felt llike his very heart was being wrenched out at the thought of leaving her in this state. She was the first person who ever _really_ belived he existed. She had saved his life in Antarctica. The _least_ he could do was stay and try to help.

But he didn't. He felt powerless and weak. Ashllyn was being possesed by some crazy, revenge-seeking Mother Nature, and there was nothing he could do about it. With a final glance behind him, Jack followed Bunny down the tunnel.

After a moment of tumbling through the tunnel, they arrived back at the Pole's meeting room. Jaime was witing in the exact same spot as when they had left.

"What happened?" he demanded, leaping out of his chair.

North looked at a loss for words, wich was a first. Tooth looked like her puppy had just died, and Bunny looked crestfallen.

"What are we going to do?" Tooth asked. Jaime still looked confused. No one had an answer, not even Bunny, who always had a solution. But, as always, there was someone who had an answer. A hatch in the ceiling opened, and what should slide into view but the moon. The guardians all looked up eagerly, waiting for the Man in the Moon to give them a solution.

The moon's light pooled on the floor, creating a perfect circle of pale light on the floor. Words began to appear in the moonlight.

_This has happened before. Terralia has possesed a mortal before. There is but one way to stop her-_

_"_Well, what is it, then?" North demanded, looking up at the moon.

_Patience, Nicholas. There is but one way to stop her. A young mortal must drive a dagger through her heart._

The guardians, plus Jaime, all looked horrofied at such an idea. North asked the question that was ringing through all their minds.

"Manny, what will happen to Ashllyn if we do this?"

_Ah, there is a way to save her. If you stab her with the same dagger that killed her the first time, then you might be able to save Ashllyn. If not..._

The moonlight faded. No one could even fathom seeing Ashllyn stabbed through the chest and not being able to do anything.

"So, someone has to..." Jaime asked. Bunny nodded.

"And we might not be able to..." Jack finished. North nodded. Jack took a deep breath and said, "Well, then there's only one thing we can do." The others looked bewildered.

"And what's that?" Bunny asked.

"We've got to figure out how to stab Ashllyn in the heart and not kill her."

* * *

**Dun, dun, DUN! Again, I need people to put in here! I need them for the next chapter (if not the next chapter, then chapt. 5)**

**Questions, comments, _SUGGESTIONS_, and concerns go in the box below.**


	5. Night Light

**Hello people of Earth, Jupiter and the Moon (talkin' to you, MiM). I just wanted to thank Firedrakegirl for the inspiration of Night Light (And to think I was going to put a leprechaun in there instesd!). So, as Shakespere said, 'Curtains up or I throttle whoever works them!'**

* * *

The guardians, plus Jaime, scoured every library in the Pole. There didn't seem to be a way to stab someone in the heart and not kill them.

"Hey, why don't we just Google it?" Jaime asked. Jack peeked over his book, 'Ancient Alchemy: a Beginner's Guide'. 

"Google?" he asked, bewildered.

"Seriously? You're the guardian of fun, but you've never heard of Google?" Jaime replied, equally bewildered.

"No, what is it?"

Jaime took five minutes to explain how the Internet worked, then another two to explain Google.

"Okay... I still don't get it, but if you think it'll work..." Jack said, his mind in overdrive. Jaime called over a yeti, who delightedly ran to get a laptop. Once he had arrived with the Toshiba laptop **(Death to Apple!)**.

"Okay, Google. Give me an answer." Jaime murmmered to the screen

"It can hear you?" Jack asked. **(Oops, I just relized that every time I say 'Jack asked' out loud, it sounds like 'Jack a... you get it).**

"What? No... people just talk to their computers sometimes." Jaime answered, distractedly. He clicked on the first link, and a menu popped up. Jaime clicked on the Healing section.

"Okay, Healing Sicknesses, Stop the Blood Flow, that one might work!" He clicked on it, and Jack looked it over.

"I don't know. It has to be done on a full moon and requires a potion. Let's find somethiing easier," he replied. "Maybe a charm..."

That's when North walked in.

"What are you doing? Playing the video games?" he asked, his arms folded.

"Uh-no! We where just-um... Jack wants to tell you!" Jaime said, ducking behind the stacks of books. Jaime would never admit it, but North secretly scared him when he got angry. Jack rolled his eyes.

"We where trying to speed up the process by 'Googling' healing spells. Whatever that means." Jack explained.

"Well you take break now. We have someone who could help us. I hope..." North said, beckoning them to the meeting area.

The boys looked at each other, shrugged, then followed. In the meeting room was a girl, no older than seventeen or eighteen, neither had ever seen before. She had golden hair that glittered with what looked like dream-sand, and wore a leather jacket over a yellow tee shirt that said, 'Dream out Loud.' She had ripped jeans with black combat boots kicked up on the table. Her eyes were peircing yellowish-white. She looked bored out of her mind.

"Boys, this is Night Light. She may have information that can help us." North explained. Night Light looked up, and introduced herself.

"Night Light's the name. Call me Nightie or Lightie or Candle, and I throttle you," She said, extending her hand in greeting. Jaime and Jack both shook it uneasily.

"So, how can she help us save Ashllyn?" Jack asked North.

"She is the guardian of nightmares. She puts a touch of fear in a good dream, just a touch, and lets the child figure out how to deal with it. She helps build courage," North explained, wringing his hands. "She knows many things and she may have some information to help save Ashllyn."

"Yeah, I _might_ be able to save your girlfriend. For a price." she said, looking directly at Jack. Jacks ears grew red, standing out against his pale skin and white hair.

"She's not my girlfriend." Jack muttered.

"Cut the act. I know your fears, Jack. I've seen them." Night Light said, her piercing eyes boring holes into him. Jaime was getting slightly uncomfortable.

"So-um-you have a spell or potion or something?" Jaime asked, eyes darting between the two. Night Light scoffed.

"I don't do potions and spells. No, I do courage. But, I have a plan that just might work."

"So where where you when Pitch was attacking?" Jack asked accusingly.

"Where was I? You ever heard the phrase, 'courage is fear holding on a bit longer'? Well, I was there, but not directly. When the kids where losing hope and belief, I was giving them courage through their dreams. Letting the fear hold on a bit longer. So, Jack Frost, _that's_ where I was," She said, standing. "It may not have been as glamourus as fighting Pitch up front, but without me, they _still_ wouldn't belive in you. Any of you."

Jaime and North where desperatly trying to calm them down, changing the subject and pulling them apart.

That's when things got complicated.

* * *

**So, again, more people needed!**

**Questions, comments, _SUGGESTIONS_, and concerns go in the box below.**


	6. Complicated

Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy all barged in. Bunny started rambling off about some wild goose chase that North apparently sent them on. They came to an abrupt stop when they noticed Night Light.

"What's _she_ doing here?" Bunny asked. Tooth looked confused, but Sandy looked completely bewildered, shocked, angry, and surprised. He began to flash rapid sand-signs over his head, using his short little arms to embelish his anger.

"Sandy, there is very good reason Night Light is here." North said.

"Yeah, I'm here to help Frostbite's girlfriend! Same as you." Night Light put in, still standing. Sandy looked over at her, pure venom in his gaze. He took a deep breath and flashed a question mark over his head, then an arrow pointing to Night Light.

"I think I just answered that." she said. North looked over at her and then to Sandy.

"Well, you see, Night Light knows more about spells and potions than anybody else, so I thought she could help us find a spell to help Ashllyn..."

Sandy exploded in sand signs again, these ones very rude, aimed at North.

"No need to get rude, there's a kid in here." Night Light said, gesturing to Jaime. Jaime had been silent during their exchange, and jumped at being mentioned. Sandy threw up his stubby arms in exasperarion and left the meeting room, Bunny following closely.

"Bunny! Sandy! She's just trying to help!" Tooth called after them. She flew over to Night Light, who was staring defiantly after Bunny and Sandy.

"I didn't want to see them anyways." Night Light said, taking her seat again.

"Why doesn't Sandy like you?" Jaime asked Night Light.

"Where to start-" Jack said, ending with sharp elbow to the ribs, courtesy of Jaime.

"We have a... complicated relationship," she answered, shooting a glare in Jack's direction. "He thinks that I'm too hard on the kids dreams, and I think that the kids need to grow some skin. No offense."

"Oh, none taken." Jaime said, slighty offended. North cleared his throat loudly.

"So, back on topic. Night Light has a lot of time and she drifts from place to place, so she picks up things. And she may be able to help us." He said, gesturing for Night Light to finish.

"Yeah. I've got an idea. It may not work, but it's an idea." She said, still looking bored.

"Well, what is it?" Jack demanded.

"Slow down, Frosty. I'll tell you." Night Light answered, examining her fingernails. "So, you know how kids can only see you if they belive in you? Well, I have a hunch that maybe if we all belive that this perticular mixture will work, then it may work better than if we doubted it. Better by just enough to heal Ashllyn." she finished with a flourish.

Jack looked inconvinced, Tooth (who still hadn't said anything since arriving) looked hopeful, Jaime looked confused, and North looked wishful.

"That... just might work." Jack said grudgingly.

"No need to thank me." Night Light said.

"I wasn't going to."

"Go freeze a lake!"

"Go scare a kid!"

"At least I create something useful!" Night Light retorted, now nose to nose with Jack.

"Guys!" Tooth said, pulling them apart. "We can't fight among ourselves, it'll just give Terralia an edge on us!"

North gulped, and hastily agreed. "Tooth is right. We need to help Ashllyn."

Jack and Night Light pulled apart, still glaring daggers at each other.

This was _not_ going to be simple.

* * *

**Hahaha! Woah. I just had a thought. What if Jack's sister (I don't know her name) was Jaime's ancestor?! Because if you compare two pics of Human Jack and Jaime, they look almost exactally alike!**

**So, again, not to late for people suggestions! I at least need two more people, so first suggested, first writen in!**

**Questions, comments, _SUGGESTIONS_, and concerns go in the box below.**


	7. In Salem

"Okay, so how are we going to do this if Sandy and Night Light are always at each other's throat?" Jaime asked Jack on the way to the sleigh.

"I dunno... Maybe they'll make up?" Jack said, but it was just wishfull thinking. The way they glared at each other, there was no way they where making up anytime soon.

"Well anything's- whoa." Jaime said, openmouthed. He had seen the new updated sleigh. It was even bigger and better than the one Ashllyn crashed. That thought made his chest tighten and pang with sadness. Jaime was rushing about around the sleigh, gasping and exclaiming every once in a while.

The sight of Jaime running around like an idiot ussually made Jack laugh, or at the very least smile. But he didn't. His face was sad and distant.

"Isn't this cool, Jack?" Jaime asked. Jack forced a smile and laughed, but it was strained and flat.

"Yeah, isn't it cool, Jack?" a voice said from behind him.

"Zip it, Nightie. He's a kid." Jack answered, whipping around. Night Light was standing behind him, arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"No need to get snippy. Besides, I'm here to help." she answered, pushing past him. _What's her problem?_, Jack thought. He followed her and climbed into the sleigh along with Jaime and Tooth. Sandy (Who sat as far away from Night Light as possible), Bunny and North climbed in breifly after.

"So, where are we going?" Jaime asked.

"First stop, Salem," Night Light answered. The others looked confused. "For the mixture."

"You never told us exactly _what_ this mixture was." Bunny said, slightly accusingly.

"I didn't?" Night Light said, slightly evasive.

"No." Bunny answered.

"Well, it heals mortal wounds. And it can, if used right, restore something to its original state." she said, vaugely.

"Okay..." they flew in silence the rest of the way to Salem. When they arrived, they split into teams of two and one team of three. Jack, Jaime and Night Light, North and Tooth, and Bunny and Sandy (who was still angry for some reason).

"Okay, so we'll divide this list up. Okay, North and Tooth, get Moonlace, half a cup of lace wing flies, and three turnips. Bunny and... you, get amythest powder, a bat wing, and red wax. We'll get the rest." Night Light said, folding up her list.

"How do we get all of this?" Tooth asked. Night Light looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Seriously? This is Salem. Witch capital of the world. It's going to have _everything_ we need here."

The others shrugged and continued in different directions, looking for brewing ingredients.

* * *

**I love Salem... never been though. I want too! Random Fact: there is a Salem Witches' institute according to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.**

**Again, not too late for people! I'm not accepting any after next chapter!**

**Questions, comments- you know the drill by now!**

**~Bookie~ **


	8. The Abandoned Warehouse

The first place Night Light's group hit was called Potion Brews and Curly Cues. Apparently, they sold potion ingredients and gave children's haircuts. _Not a particularly logical combonation_, Night Light thought, browsing the herb sections. _Rosemary... mint... aha! Vulcanian fire stalks_. She added the stalks to her basket. All they needed know where the eyes of newt,**(Couldn't help it. Too cliche.)** Mandrake roots, and coal dust.

Meeting up with the boys in the front of the store, about to leave, when Jaime stopped them.

"Isn't that stealing?" he asked. He had seen a lot, faced a lot, but he was still a nine year old kid.

"Yeah, isn't that stealing, Night Light?" Jack asked sarcastically.

Night Light thought for a moment, then answered.

"When you're saving the world from a corrupt and evil Mother Nature, that's kind of payment in itself."

Jaime and Jack shrugged and followed her out onto Main Street. People were bustling around, tourists were snapping pictures, and demostrations of witch trials were taking place all around them. A little girl with firey red hair was pulling an eighteen year old girl, a book on witches clutched firmly in her hand.

"Come _on_, Cori! I wanna see the haunted warehouse!" she was saying. Night Light stopped dead, the boys running into her with grunts of surprise. A tingle of dread ran up her spine. Hopefully, Cori would say no and go on with their tourist things.

"Fine! I give in! I'll take you to this stupid warehouse if you'll just leave me alone!" Cori answered. Night Light's heart stopped. The boys where still standing, bewildered, behind her.

"What's up with you?" Jack asked. Night Light didn't answer, but grabbed the boys arms instead, pulling them along behind the little girl and Cori. She held out her hand, still striding along, and shot dream sand out of it. It shaped into a cloud, similar to Sandy's, but it had little black grains of sand mixed in it too. She pulled the boys up onto the cloud, and it glided forwards.

"Woah!" Jaime said, holding on for dear life. Jack sent a quizzical look in her direction.

"We can't let that little kid get to the warehouse!" she supplied, pushing forwards.

"What? Why not?" Jack called, hanging on to his staff for support on the twisting cloud.

"Uhh, I'm surrounded by idiots. That's where I make my sand! Do you know how many Nightmares are in there?" she said, spotting the little girl again. She pushed ahead, Jack and Jaime flinging questions at her. She didn't hear any of them. All she could hear was the blood pounding in her ears.

She _couldn't_ let that little girl get to the warehouse. She couldn't have a repeat of...

_No. Don't think about it. There was nothing you could do. _she thought. But a nagging in the back of her head said that there was a whole lot she could have done.

The blood pounding in her ears was replaced by a shrill screaming. She clamped her hands over her ears, causing the dream cloud to wobble.

"Night Light? You okay?" Jack asked, helping her back to her feet.

"I'm fine... Look! We're here!" she answered, changing the subject. They where, in fact, at the warehouse.

But the little girl was already walking in with Cori.

* * *

**So, I still need people! Last chance, because they're coming in the next chapter!**

**Questions, comments, _SUGGESTIONS_, and concerns go in the box below.**

**~Bookie~**


	9. Meet Disney

When Night Light pulled him onto her dream cloud, Jaime's brain went into overdrive. All he could think was, _What's going on? _

As Night Light steered the cloud, the wind whistling in Jaime's ears, he took inventory of the items they had in the basket.

_Vulcanian Fire Stalks? Check. Coal Dust? Check. Mandrake Roots? Check. Eye of Newt? Check._

Night Light was really shaken up about this kid. Jack flung another question at her.

"What? Why not?" he asked, clinging to his staff for support.

"Uhh, I'm surrounded by idiots! That's where I make my sand! Do you know how many Nightmares are in there?" Jack and Jaime exchanged nervous glances. Night Light brought the cloud to an abrupt stop in front of an old warehouse, nearly throwing Jaime and Jack off the cloud. Her face had turned stark white. She lept off her vehicle, pulling Jack and Jaime along with her.

They raced up to the warehouse, ducking under the boards that barracaided the door. She yanked them down the hall until they arrived in a central workshop area. Cages lined the walls, Nightmares converged in them. The little girl with the red hair was standing near the one closest to the trio.

"Woah, Cori, are you seeing this?" she asked, holding up a digital camera.

"Disney... we need to go. Like, now!" Cori said, backing away.

_Click. _A little flash followed, witch only seemed to anger the Nightmare. It snorted and reared, crashing it's hooves against the bars. Night Light ran forwards, shushing and trying in vain to calm the Nightmare.

"Woah. Who are you?" Disney asked, looking at Night Light. She turned slowly, facing Disney.

"Me?" she asked, bewildered. Jack pulled Jaime behind a crate and put his finger to his lips. All Jaime could hear was a muffled exchange between Night Light and Disney. From what Jaime heard, Disney saw Night Light but Cori didn't.

"Dis, who are you talking to?" Cori asked, concerned.

"Can't you see her?" Disney asked, turning to her sister.

"No...," Cori said, grabbing her sister's arm. "Come on, Dis. We're getting out of here." she pulled her sister out of the workshop area and out of the warehoude.

Jack and Jaime stepped out of their hiding spot. Night Light was staring dazedly after Disney and Cori. She was leaning against the cage, and she slowly slid down it. She rested her head on her knees, arms over her head.

"Night Light? What happened?" Jack asked, crouching next to her. She looked up, her eyes weary and weak.

"The Nightmares, you have no idea how close they where to breaking loose. I was afraid that the little girl, Disney, was going to..." she shuddered.

"Going to what?" Jaime asked, ever curious. Night Light looked up, her eyes full of fear.

"Trust me, Jaime. You do _not_ want to know." she answered. She got up and brushed herself off.

"C'mon, we need to meet up with the others to make sure we've got everything." The boys shrugged, following her to Main Street.

"I'll never understand girls..." Jack told Jaime.

* * *

**So, yeah... that's it. I probably won't get anything up tomorrow, seeing as I'll be riding in a car for 11 hours to get to TN for Christmas. I'll write, but on Word. I won't put anything up due to the lack of wi fi on the highway. So, since no one gave me any names (Thanks for the help, guys), I had to ask my BFF, Crazy Ginger (She dosen't want me to give out her real name, so that's what she wants me to put), and she said, 'Well, it's obvious, isn't it? Disney. Duh.' and went back to eating her jalepeanos. So, I might accept one more person, so... yeah. Bye!**

**Crazy Ginger: He-hey, everyone! I'm gettin' on and adding my own comments to Bookie's story, so if you see words in parentheses that look like this: (_Hello_) then you know it's me.**

**~Bookie (_And Crazy Ginger!_)~ **


	10. Making the Mixture

Jack would never understand girls. Not Tooth or Night Light or… Ashllyn. The thought of her being used by an evil earth lady was almost to bear.

Night Light led Jaime and him out of the warehouse and back onto Main Street. Her eyes where glazed over, as if she wasn't fully there. As if she was lost in memories or thought. They walked a little ways until they arrived at the meeting place. Bunny, Sandy, North, and Tooth were already there, baskets of potion ingredients at their feet.

"There you are! Where were you?" Bunny asked, obviously displeased. Bunny was not the type of person (Well, he's not really a person, more like a pooka) to hide his feelings about something.

"We, uh… ran into something." Night Light answered, snapping out of her daze.

"Like what?" Bunny asked, slightly accusingly. Night Light's eyes regained their normal light.

"Something." She retorted. Sandy rolled his eyes, and even without the dream sand the message was clear: _typical_. Night Light's fist balled up. "You got something to say to me?"

Sandy smirked and laughed (silently, of course) like her boldness amused him. Night Light's face burned beet red. Jaime and Jack exchanged nervous glances, knowing that if someone didn't break the two up, there was going to be serious trouble. Luckily though, North coughed and began to speak.

"So, ah, we have all ingredients, right? So what is next step, Night Light?"

Night Light unclenched her fists and took a deep breath.

"Well, we need to make the mixture. I hope you have a pot or something back at the Pole, North." She answered, still slightly on edge from her encounter with Disney in the warehouse.

"So we're going to the Pole?" Tooth asked, her feathered head cocked to the side.

"Er… yes." Night Light answered. She was not used to being the leader, or in charge of anyone or anything but herself for that matter. Jack knew the feeling. For more than four hundred years, he had been responsible for no one but himself. Night Light was probably older than him, and she hadn't been responsible for anyone but herself, either. Ever. At least, that's what Jack assumed…

* * *

**_BACK AT THE POLE…_**

"Are you sure you're doing this right?" Jaime asked, handing Night Light a mallet.

"Of course! I was taught potioning by La Befana, the Italian Christmas witch herself!" she answered, pounding the Vulcanian Fire Stalks three times each. She scooped them up and put them in a small jar. They (Jaime, Jack and Night Light) where preparing the mixture in the kitchen of North's workshop.

"Okay! So, we are all set. Moonlace? Check. Lace wing flies? Check. Turnips? Check. Amythest powder? Check. Bat wings? Check. Red wax? Check. Vulcanian Fire St-" Night light was cut off by Jaime and Jack's exasperated complaints.

"I think we have everything, Night Light!" Jaime said, gathering up the jars of ingredients in his arms. He set them all down on the counter near the boiling pot of water and vineger.

"Okay, a dash of amythest powder," Night Light said, throwing some powder in the pot. The mixture turned hot pink and started to smoke. She waved away the smoke. "A bat wing," she said, tossing a shrivled little peice of bat leather into the pot. It turned black and the consistency of oil. It emitted the most awful smell. In between coughs, she added the rest of the ingredients, the mixture turning multiple colors and smells.

"Now we need something of Ashllyn's so the mixture will heal her." Night Light said, wiping smudges off of her face. Jack and Jaime looked confused.

"What? You never said anything about that!" Jack yelled. Night Light cocked her head.

"Well, I thought that there must be _something_ of hers around here somewhere..." Night Light said, striding past the boys to the anxious crowd of guardians and yetis outside.

"Is it ready?"

"Did it go right?"

"Did you finish it?"

All these questions and more rang through the hall. "Quiet! Yes, I made it. Yes, it turned out right. And... No, it's not finished. I need something of Ashllyn's for it to work on her. So, we need something of hers. Now." Night Light answered. The rest of the guardians, even Sandy, spread out to find something of Ashllyn's.

Five minutes later, Tooth came back with a small golden pin.

"I found this in her room. I hope it works."

"All we need now is to hope it works..." Night Light said, walking back into the kitchen.

* * *

**Dun, dun, DUN! Oh, I caught Crazy Ginger and threatened her until she stopped commenting. So, no more people, I decided to just name them after my cousins.**

**Questions, comments, suggestions, and concerns go in the box below.**

**~Bookie~**


	11. Backstory

Night Light walked back into the kitchen alone. She had the pin in one hand, and a pair of tongs in the other. She clamped the little golden pin in between them, and dipped it into the mixture. _I hope this works, _she thought, pulling the pin out. The pin was glowing now, a soft, pinkish hue. The mixture had turned the color of gold. Night Light heaved a sigh of relief. The mixture was working just as the recipe had said it would.

All there was left to do now was get it to Ashllyn in time. She placed the pin in her jeans pocket, and strode out of the kitchen, a triumphant look on her face.

"It worked."

It was amazing, how those two simple words can affect people. Tooth fluttered a little higher, North exhaled a breath that he had been holding, Bunny's ears pricked up, Jack and Jaime's faces lit up, and even Sandy smiled at Night Light.

_When was the last time he smiled at me like that?_ she thought bitterly. _No time for bitterness_. Ashllyn was depending on them. On her. She had the pin. She had never really met the girl, but Night Light could tell that she was important to the guardians. Unlike her...

_You are important, Glika Onira_, a voice rang through her head. _Glika Onira_... no one had called Night Light that since she was small. She excused herself from the rest of the relieved guardians, and stepped into the nearest bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror.

"Who are you?" she asked herself. Sh e wasn't really talking to herself, more like the voice.

_You know who I am, Gli-_

"That's not my name!" Night Light shouted. "Are you... the Man in the Moon?"

_Yes, child. I am the Man in the Moon_

"Why are you just now talking to me? I've been trying to get you to talk to me for five _hundred_ years! If I'm so important, why did you let..." she trailed off, looking down at her clenched fists on the marble countertop.

_I had to let you build your own courage. Much like you build the children's courage_

"You do nothing like what I do! You don't let it get better! It just gets worse!" she shouted, slaming her fists on the counter. Gold and black dream sand puffed from in between her clenched fingers. Hot tears streamed down her face.

_Child, listen. You are as important as any other guardian._

"No, I'm not! I'm just a mistake! I wasn't meant to be like this! _You_ did this to me!" the tears where streaming down her face like rapids. She felt boiling rage filling her. "I-I'm just a nightmare. I couldn't even save a kid from my own creations!"

_There was nothing for you to do. You could not fully controll your powers._

"I could have not tested them! I could have practiced before I tried them! _You_ could have warned me!" She shouded, kicking the counter cabinent door. It broke into splinters under her combat boot.

_This is not going to help. Senseless violence never helps. Take a deep breath and calm down._

"You calm down! This is your fault! If you hadn't made me like this... I am done speaking to you! All you've brought me was grief. I lost my family, my best and only friend... Because. Of. YOU!" She ran out of the bathroom in tears, heading blindly to the most secluded spot she could find.

The library.

She sat down hard on the window sill. She looked over the Arctic tundra, tears flooding freely down her face. After five minutes of sobbing, she felt a hand on her shoulder. A freezing cold hand. She hastily wiped her eyes. Jack sat on the other end of the sill.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his blue eyes full of concern. Night Light avoided his gaze by looking at the tundra.

"I-I'm fine." she said, wiping her eyes again.

"Uh huh," he answered "Spill." Night Light glared at him.

"Why do you care?"

Jack was stumped.

"I don't know. Maybe because you are helping save my best friend. Maybe because I know what it's like to be an outcast."

"You don't know anything about what it's like to be me." she growled.

"Okay. But you do need to tell someone. Kepping it inside won't help." Jack said, locking his gaze in hers. Night Light sighed.

"Fine. First thing, my name's not really Night Light. It's Gilka Onira. I changed it when my family disowned me. Second thing, my family hates me. Every last one of them. My dad is... well, you already know him. It's... Sandy. Sandy is my father. I never knew my mom. So, when I was about thirteen, mortal age, I broke into my dad's dream sand vault. I took a small bag full. You see, it was the time of the first Dark Age. Pitch was rising, and I had snatched a small bag of his sand. I mixed dad's sand and a little of Pitch's, and tried it on my cat. She started to twitch in her sleep, then she stopped and she purred. I had created the first sweet Nightmare.

I practiced, and finally tried it on a human. My best friend, Emily. She said that she wanted to have a sweet Nightmare. I gave her some, but as she was going to sleep, Pitch came. He sprinkled Nightmare dust all over her, and I was to scared to do anything. He just laughed as..." Night Light trailed off. What happened to Emily was to horrible. She shuddered and continued.

"He turned her into a Nightmare. Then he threw Nightmare dust at me, and I had the Nightmare dust _inside _me. I was sort of like a Nightmare myself. My dad found me covered in Nightmare dust, he flipped out. He said that I was no daughter of his if I was messing with Nightmare. Well, he didn't really say it, but I can speak Sand Sign. I-I was too scared to tell him what really happened. He kicked me out, and I promised myself that I would not let any other kid have to feel as afraid as I did that night. So, that's why I give sweet Nightmares to kids. The Man in the Moon told me that he had planned it, had meant for me to be like this. That's all he had ever said to me in until now. Just now, in the bathroom, the Man in the Moon spoke to me. I've been trying to talk to him for five hundred years, and now he talks to me... But he expects me to just forgive him for what he let happen." She finished and sat back.

"Woah. Deep," Jack said, sitting back himself. "I never knew-"

"No one did. I never told anyone about it but you."

Jack and Night Light sat in silence for a while, until the other guardians and Jaime burst in.

"Guys, you need to see this." Bunny said. The pair followed them out to a balcony, and the sight awaiting them was enough to give them a heart attack.

* * *

**This chapter is dedicated to my sweet cousin Emmy, short for Emily. She has a wild imagination and is one of my best inspirations.**

***Yawns* sorry its so late (the time, not the date). It was hard to find some peace and quiet at my cousins' house(they are CRAZY).So, Merry Christmas!**

**~Bookie (And Emmy!)~**


	12. I Don't Know What to Call This Chapter

Terralia sat back in her ivy throne with a satisfied smirk playing across her face. _No, not my face. Not yet..._ She clenched Ashllyn's fist. The girl's spirit was strong, and she was fighting hard. But as soon as Terralia reached her full power, Ashllyn's spirit would be uneccesry. She could form her own body.

Aside from the point, Terralia had made the little cave in which she was imprisoned into a suitble temporary living was furniture made of various plants. The glass coffin with the cursed mortal woman Terralia had possesed was moved to the center, its silver dagger guarded at all time by living venus flytraps. If the guardians wanted a fight, then she would bring one.

"Such delicate things, mortal lives," Terralia said, standing and circling the coffin. "So easily they burn away." Terralia heard a scuffling sound behind her. Whiping around, Ashllyn's cloak flying behind her, she glowered down at the source. An Arctic fox, panting from the higher temperatures of Burgess.

"My lady, I bring you news of the guardians actions," he said, pricking up his snowy white ears. "They have plans to travel to Burgess, and they have a new girl with them."

Terralia's instincts went haywire.

"Who? Who is she?" the Earth queen demanded. The little fox shrank back in fear, but none the less answered.

"They call her Night Light. But I have evidence of her originaly going by the name of Glika Onira."

Terralia felt anger boiling with her. "You are absolutely certain that this was Glika Onira?"

"Quite." the little fox replied. Terralia's temper exploded. With an enraged cry, she pointed her hand at the fox, who barley had time to react before he was wrapped in vines. The vines tightend and squeezed around his body. When the vines unraveled, there was nothing left of the little fox but a pile of white furs.

"This could ruin my plans! Courage! The one thing that trumps fear!" she growled, storming around the cave. "If she is on their side... no matter! I can do this. She is no match for me." Terralia sat back down on her throne boiling. What was more, her head exploded in pain. She cried out and fell off of the throne. She felt her control of Ashllyn's body begin to leesen, felt the girl gain control.

* * *

Ashllyn's eyes turned purple again. She was breathing heavily, her head throbbing. One thought rang clear in her mind:_ I have to get out!_

She staggered over to the ladder, and climbed out, making her way to the park. If she could get to the kids, she could warn the guardians.

_The guardians!_

They must have a plan, they had to have a plan. She managed to stumble around until she was out of the woods. She had taken no more than three steps when she tripped over something. Looking down at her feet, she saw that it was a...

A snowglobe.

Not just any snowglobe, but one of North's transporting snowglobes. She could use this to go to the Pole.

_But what if Terralia takes over again? I can't risk their safety._

She threw the snowglobe as far and hard as she could, hearing a satisfying shatter. _Now just to warn the kids..._

* * *

**S****orry it's short. But... life happens. So... yeah... BYE!**

**~Bookie~**


	13. A Face in the Clouds

**_So, I got the Guardians of Childhood box set (yeah, I saw the movie before I read the books.) and the tag said it was from Jack Frost (ha ha, mom. Make fun of the ROTG addict.). So, I was reading the back, and it said that there was already_****_a character named Nightlight! I really hope I don't get sued... Well the official Nightlight isn't anything like my Night Light._**  
_**  
**__**  
**_**_So, anyways, on with the show!~_**

* * *

Ashllyn's head exploded. She collapsed with a cry of pain. She felt her control slip and falter. She felt Terralia gain control.

"You... can't... win... they have... a plan..." she groaned, clutching her head. She felt her mind grow blank, and control of her own body slip away. She felt Terralia grasp control with an iron hand.

* * *

"Oh, contrare, Ashllyn. I also have a plan." Terralia said, standing and brushing Ashllyn's body off. _This girl is too medlesome. I must dispose of her spirit when I reclaim the world,_ Terralia thought. It was true, she also had a master plan. A plan that, if executed right, would stop the guardians in their tracks. She had the bait, and she had the means of letting the guardians know that she had the bait.

The plan was going accordingly.

* * *

**BACK AT THE POLE...**

The guardians and Jaime where gathered on a balcony. The sight in front of them nearly stopped their hearts. In the clouds, formed of the fluffy white things themselves, was Ashllyn's face. Except, it was twisted in a maniacal sneer.

"Oh, hello! Is this a bad time?" the cloud-Ashllyn/Terralia said. No one answered.

"No? Good. Because I have something of yours. Just thought you might want it back." Her face dissapeared and was replaced by the form of a small girl. A small girl with toussled hair and footie pajamas...

"Sophie?" Jaime asked. Jack stared at the cloud in disbelief. Terralia's head appeared again.

"Sophie, is it? I belive she is your little sister, Jaime. How fragile, human lives. What a shame if Sophie where to be... broken." she laughed, but it wasn't Ashllyn's laugh. No, this laugh was hard, cold and cruel.

"Don't you even think-" Jaime started, walkilng to the edge of the balcony.

"About what? What can _you_ do about, Jaime?" Terralia asked, mock curiosity on her cloudy face.

"Don't listen to her, Jaime!" Jack called, putting his hand on Jaime's shoulder. Night Light put her hand on his other shoulder. Jaime didn't answer her question.

"That's what I thought." Terralia said.

"Why are you doing this?" North asked.

"Oh, Nicholas, you know why. The world has been ruined by humans. Pollution, acids, human wastes... they are killing the planet. My animals are being hunted for their furs or horns or tusks or teeth or... for... sport'' she spat the last word out as if it where the foulest thing to ever make its way from her mouth._  
_

If she weren't trying to destroy the human race, one might pity her.

''Why did you have to bring Sophie into it? She hasn't done anything to you!'' Bunny asked. He had become quite attatched to the child, and hated to see her captured almost as much as Jaime.

''Ah, Bunnymund. I have looked forwards to meeting you. We aren't that different, you know. Both spirits of spring, both spirits of Nature. Think about it. Why waste your time on these brats, when we could rule the world, side by side.''

Bunny looked slightly appaled at the idea.

"Me? Join you? Not even in your twisted dreams, Dirt Face."

The cloud face sighed. She actually looked disapointed.

"Ah, well. I await your arival in Burgess... eagerly. And a farewell to you all, from Sophie and I!" with those words, Terralia's face vanished, leaving behind only a chill of terror and dread in the Arctic air. After a long, unbroken silence, Jaime finally spoke.

"We- we're going to get Sophie, right?" he asked nervously. The guardians exchanged skeptic looks, except Jack and Night Light, who nodded vigourusly.

"Of course we are, Jaime," Jack said, Night Light nodding her agreement. "right, guys?" he asked the guardians, but it wasn't really a question. More of a statement or a command.

"Well, there is no time like the present!" North said unenthusiastically. "To the sleigh!"

At this there was a mingled reaction. Bunny and Night Light groaned, while the rest of the guardians and Jaime cheered.

* * *

Terralia sat back, admiring her handiwork. The trap was set, baited, and ready to be sprung. The little girl, Sophie, was completley oblivious. She was contently in the corner, playing with a small plant. She would ocasionaly run up to the throne and sqeal, "Flower! Flower, flower, flower!" them run back to her corner.

It really was quite annoying. How that Jaime child put up with her, she would never know.

All there was left to do now was lie in wait. Like a puma on the hunt, she would spring at the precisely right moment.


	14. Hope it Works

**_To JaymeBell,_**

**_I couldn't find your profile with the info you gave me, so could you just list Sugar High's hair colors in a review? I might not fit her in this one, but I started another, and will _****definitely_ include her then! _**

**_Thanks!_**

**_So, this chapter will probably make you either cry or laugh (It sure made my mom cry)_**

**_~Bookie~_**

* * *

The sleigh ride was bumpy. Even bumpier than usual. And the sleigh didn't very updated, more outdated.

"Hey, North, I thought you were getting a new sleigh!" Jack called over the roar of the wind. North glanced over his shoulder.

"The new one is... in shop!" he yelled over the wind, still steering them ahead. Jack still wasn't satisfied.

"Meaning?" he shouted, the wind growing louder.

"The yetis crashed it! This is back up!" North was practically screaming, the wind was so loud.

"Jeez, North. What is it with this sleigh and crashing?" Jack yelled, pushing North's patience even further. North threw a venomous look over his shoulder. Jack took the hint to stop talking. He sat in the back next to Night Light.

"Wait to tick North off." she said, cuffing him on the back of the head.

"It's what I do." he answered, rubbing the back of his head. They sat in silence for a while, until Night Light broke the silent streak.

"So, Ashllyn must've been pretty important to you guys. I mean, you went through all this trouble to save her instead of just stabbing her and being done with it."

Jack was taken aback. "Yeah, she was pretty cool. She helped defeat Pitch. There's just some things you just _can't_ go through with someone and not become attached," he paused, glancing at Night Light's sorrowful face. "You know, we sat on that windowsill in the library. After your- Sandy- died. She told me not to blame myself."

"She seems pretty awesome." Night Light said, her voice cracking ever so slightly. Jack wondered if anyone had ever described her like that. The moment was ruined by the disgusting sounds of Bunny heaving over the side of the sleigh.

"Are- *insert heave*- we there yet? *insert heave,*" Bunny asked in between vomiting. North answered.

"Almost, Bunny. Try to keep the vomit _out_side the sleigh."

They all laughed at that. But it was a strained, nervous laugh. They where laughing for one another's sake. They were laughing to convince themselves that their crazy plan would work.

* * *

Upon their arrival in Burgess, the guardians hastily spilled out of the sleigh. They gathered Jaime up in the middle of a tightly knit group. They made their way slowly to the park, ready to swoop to the rescue.

_Yeah, that's gonna work_, Jack thought bitterly. If there was one thing he had learned in life, it was that _nothing_ ever went according to plan.

So, they stood anyway, staring defiantly at the woods. Scanning the tree line, they spotted the first of Terralia's army.

A black panther, prowling out of the woods. How did they know it was Terralia's, you ask? It had radiation green eyes, that glowed green like headlights. It obviously wasn't a warrior, but a scout. Once he spotted them, it threw its head back with an earsplitting, blood-curdling yowl. It then turned tail and ran back to the woods.

"Get ready." Bunny said, his boomerangs unsheathing his boomerangs. Tooth and a small array of mini-teeth got in battle stance. North drew his swords, and Night Light's hands began to swirl with dream sand. Sandy's whips appeared in his hands. Jack brandished his staff. Jaime made a snowball, the most feared of all weapons.

That's when all the forces of nature broke loose.

The next hour was a whirlwind of colors and sounds, bodies flying everywhere, even the plants where fighting against the guardians. Jack lost sight of Jaime for a while, until he spotted him running to the well in the clearing, the sword of a fallen warrior in his hand.

_It's not North's sword_, Jack thought. North was, in fact, fighting a tiger right behind him. But all the fighting stopped when the woods exploded.

They didn't really explode, a bright green light shot from the well, giving the impression of an explosion. Jack could hear himself screaming, and leaping in the air and flying to the clearing.

Standing in the clearing, surrounded by a swirling green vortex, was Terralia. And Jaime had been thrown to the edges of the clearing, a silver dagger clutched in his hands. _He went in to get the dagger!_ Jack thought. Jaime had known that without the dagger, they couldn't defeat Terralia. Or save Ashllyn.

Terralia threw back her head in deranged laughter. The whirlwind stiffened and solidified until it was almost a solid green wall surrounding her. Jaime picked himself up and brushed off. He looked a little worse for wear. His nose was bleeding, and he had a bruise on his cheek. He wrapped his hand around the dagger. He had a frightening look of steely determination in his eyes. It was a look that no nine year old should ever have.

* * *

Jaime was thrown to the ground after the explosion. He groaned and felt his nose. It hurt when he touched it. _Definitely broken_, he thought. His cheek also hurt where he had landed on it. The sword he had found was laying bent and useless in a bush. But the dagger was still wrapped firmly in his hands.

He stood up, wincing in pain. He gripped the dagger and took a deep breath. He remembered what Night Light had told him in private while they were making the mixture. _Just don't think about anything_. _Just think about courage. Confidence. Let it fill you up. Then, you can do anything,_ she had said, looking him straight in the eye. He closed his eyes, and let his mind go blank. He felt nothing other than confidence. He forced all fear out of his body.

When Jaime opened his eyes, they were filled with determination and confidence. He braced himself, brandished the dagger and charged. He didn't feel the wind around him, nor did he feel the green whirlwind. He ran right through it.

* * *

Sometime during all of this, Night Light flew up on her dream sand cloud. She and Jack watched, horrified, as Jaime charged right through Terralia's vortex. They watched as he drove the dagger through her chest. Terralia let out a strangled gasp, and then looked disbelieving at the dagger in her chest.

Jaime was breathing heavily, and he let go of the dagger. His face had gone from confidence to horror to sorrow all in a matter of seconds. He fell to his knees beside Terralia. Night Light sped forwards, pulling Jack along with her. She touched down three feet from Jaime and Terralia. She and Jack rushed over to Jaime. Jaime had tears streaming down his face. Terralia's eyes had turned purple. She was Ashllyn again. Jack sat down and put her head in his lap. She was staring upwards, her eyes slowly losing their shine. She took a shuddering breath and looked directly at Jaime. She took his hand and held it tight.

"Hey, Jaime. Don- don't cry. You did good, kiddo. You did the r- right thing. I-I'm-" she stopped to take another shuddering breath. "I'm proud of you."

Jaime gave her a weak, tear stained smile. Night Light put her hand on Jaime's shoulder.

"I hate to break up this moment, but we don't have a lot of time," she took out a little gold pin from her pocket. It was glowing pink. "Jaime, when I say 'go', pull out the dagger. Okay, go." She said, gesturing for Jaime to pull the dagger out. He did, causing Ashllyn to gasp in pain. The dagger was covered with blood. Night Light quickly pinned the torn edges of her shirt together with the pin. The pinkish glow faded away, and seemed to make the blood glow pink.

Night Light pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and began to read from it.

"Rivers flow clean and pure, for every wound there is a cure. Stop the stream that flows so red, let her be alive, not dead. Save the one who bleeds, give her what she needs. Rivers flow clean and pure, for every wound there is a cure."

Jack and Jaime held their breaths waiting. Ashllyn hadn't said anything after talking to Jaime. Her breaths grew shallower and shallower, until they finally stopped. The usual glint in her eyes faded until they looked as dull as a toy's. Jack frantically searched for a pulse, only to find none.

He let tears stream freely down his face. He and Jaime looked at each other in disbelief. There was no stopping it, no explanation except for the cold, cruel truth.

Ashllyn Grace was dead.


	15. Reunion

The impact of what had happened shook the very foundations of the guardians. Sure, they had saved the world, but at what cost? Jack was in total shock. It felt as if someone had stabbed _him_ in the heart.

When the other guardians arrived in the clearing and saw Ashllyn's lifeless body, There was a mix of reactions. Tooth broke down and cried on Jack's shoulder, Bunny and North stared in shock, and Sandy hung his head in sorrow. They carried her to the sleigh, and laid her in the back, between Jack and Jaime.

"Wait," Jaime croaked. They all turned to see him running back to the well. He came back carrying a sleeping Sophie in his arms. "We almost forgot Sophie."

They rode back to the Pole in a stunned silence. Night Light didn't even know Ashllyn, and even she was struck with greif.

Once they arrived, North pulled out seven shovels. The guardians and Jaime took the hint to start digging. They dug until thier fingers were numb. Jack dug faster and harder than anyone else. When they had finished, he took a block of ice and carved it into a fairly rectangular shape. Then he blasted some words into it:

**Here lies Ashllyn Grace, **

**Guardian, Friend, Hero**

Tooth and Jack put thier hands on his shoulders, and Jaime took his hand. Jack was staring at the ice block, tears streaming down his face. Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, and North all gathered around him. Night Light awkwardly patted his back.

Then, Jack felt a new hand on his shoulder. Jack whiped around.

"Why's everyone so sad?" she asked, her eyes glinting. Jack rushed forward and hugged his best friend. They were both crying, but not with sadness. With joy. North, Tooth, Bunny, Sandy, and Jaime ran into a group hug, nearly smothering thier friend. Only Night Light hung back.

She was spotted by the near- smothered friend. She smiled and waved Night Light over. Night Light grinned and raced over to join the group hug. She felt warm and fuzzy on the inside, a feeling she hadn't gotten since she was small.

"Thanks, Night Light." Ashllyn said, smiling at her.

Night Light smiled right back.

* * *

_**Gushy feely stuff! So, for the epilogue, I need a whole boat load of people. Just put it in a review, and I'll put her, him, or it in!**_

_**~Bookie~**_


	16. Epilogue

The guardians and Jaime threw a big party in light of the victory over Terralia. Not to mention Ashllyn being alive. She and Night Light became good friends, even though Night Light's mixture didn't work. Ashllyn was pulled this way and that, introduced to inumerable spirits and legends.

"This is Sugar High. Sugar High, this is Ashllyn." Jack said, introducing her to a girl wtih bright silver hair and wide eyes. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, like she had too much energy.

"Nice to meet you. Hey, I love that cloak. Where'd you get it? It looks nice on you. OH MY GOSH, Bunny made chocolate!" Sugar High said at lightning speed. Before Ashllyn could fully register what was happening, Sugar High rushed off to get some of Bunny's famous chocolate.

"She does that a lot." Jack said in response to Ashllyn's bewildered look. He steered her off in another direction. He stopped in front of a tall, spindly man with a pumkin head.

"That's Pumpkin Jack. Pumpkin Jack, this is Ashllyn." Jack continued. Pumpkin Jack grinned his jack o' lantern grin and popped off his head. Ashllyn jumped back, nearly tripping over the groundhog.

"Hey, I'm walkin' here!" he said, brushing himself off. He was no bigger that the tallest elf, wich was only two feet tall.

"Sorry, Mr. Goundhog." Ashllyn apologized, stooping to his level.

"You should be!" he grumbled, stomping away.

Ashllyn looked at Jack. "I think I've been aquainted with every spirit out here. Come on, I'm getting claustrophobic." she said, pulling Jack along. She climbed a set of stairs off the main hall, where the party was taking place. They climbed up for what seemed like ever, until they reached the top of a tower. Ashllyn let go of Jack and ran to the window. Jack followed, only slower.

"It's beautiful, isin't it?" she said, looking out over the tundra. Jack followed her gaze. It really was beautiful. A small, content smile crept onto Ashllyn's face. "I used to come up here every morning and every night to see the sun rise and set."

Suddenly, the sound of violins came from the ceiling. Looking up, the pair saw what looked like a blonde male model flying in the air. He had a pair of pure white wings with little heart designs on them. Slung over his back was a red bow, and an equally red quiver of arrows that looked lethal. He was playing a mahogany violin.

"Can it, Cupid." Jack said, rolling his eyes. Cupid winked and flew backwards out of the tower and down the steps.

"What was that all about?" Ashllyn asked. Jack shrugged.

"I dunno... I'll never understand Cupid. Or girls. Or-" Jack began, before Ashllyn cut him off.

"Jack?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Could you just shut up?" She asked. The pair shared a laugh.

But a strange feeling crept up Ashllyn's spine. It made her uneasy. It made her feel like her troubles weren't over. It made her feel like there was something else out there, waiting for them. And not in a good way. She shook the feeling off. What mattered right now was the present, which was peaceful and calm.

She would enjoy it while it lasted.

* * *

_**Finished! Okay, I am going to make another, and I thank it's gonna be called the Final Test**_

_**~Bookie~**_


End file.
